Function Over Form

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What do you see when you look at this picture?

If you look closely you will probably see a woman climbing a rock wall.

Well, MiniE saw this picture in a magazine at the babysitter’s house the other day and immediately pointed out that this was her mama (it’s not) but it left an impression on the babysitter so much that she tore out the page and gave it to me.

My initial reaction was that any female she sees she is going to call out as “mama” so I did a little experiment. I showed her pictures of women doing different things:

Running – MiniE looked at her and said “Mama”

Lifting Weights – again, MiniE said “Mama”

Watching TV on the couch – MiniE looked at the picture and gestured that she didn’t know.

A woman staring at herself in a bikini – No response from MiniE

That struck me and it’s made me think. Even at 1 year of age, MiniE has formed an opinion about me, she has developed an idea of what mom does and I’m happy with how that is shaping up.

We all have said it at one point or another..that part of why we do this is to motivate and inspire our kids to know that they can, and should live a healthy lifestyle.

I think what’s startling me, in a good way, is actually being able to see how my habits have shaped her notion of what a healthy lifestyle looks like. She is seeing a strong, capable and empowered woman. She didn’t relate that woman in the bikini to me, only the active women. That makes me happy. That tells me I’m doing something right.

It’s about what you can do, not how you look doing it.

More than just seeing what a healthy lifestyle looks like, I want her to see that:

It’s not about the form, it’s about the function

So I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing. I’m going to invite her and her brother to participate whenever possible in the hopes that they grow up to find their passion in fitness and health too. I know that passion is what ultimately drives us to overcome the obstacles that makes healthy happen.

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Comments

Love this to no end! You are doing it all right, Katie! I was just thinking today about how happy I am that my daughter is an athlete (posting on this topic, actually) and I know that part of that is growing up with a mama who puts it on display. I’m sure you’ll be seeing the same in a few years.

Awesome, I can’t tell you how much I love this. This is EXACTLY what I hope happens with my boys. Whenever I come home both my boys greet me at the door and say “how was your run mom? How many miles did you run?” That makes my heart swell…someday I hope they will come out there and do the miles with me!

I’m not a mom (yet) but I absolutely love this! I know for a fact I was influenced heavily by my own mother’s negative self talk on a daily basis. I started critiquing my own body very young and it has carried into my adult life. I’ve gone through a lot of healing with that but I hope that one day, when I’m a mother, my children will see healthy, confident, independent women and think “mama.” 🙂 That’s the goal anyway.

The Lightning Kid associates any kind of athletic wear with “Go! Go! Go!”. I used to think it was because he anticipated being taken out in the Chariot, but we don’t do that as much, so he seems just happy to cheer me on. He even correctly identified my swimming bag this morning, which is weird because I’ve never taken it when I go swimming with him… maybe he smelled the chlorine… 🙂